Before Batman: Arkham Knight was released, one of the most exciting tidbits of hype was that, in contrast to the previous games, Batman would now be able to team up with his allies with the new Batman: Arkham Knight dual-play feature.

While the first ally that comes to mind was Robin, fans were excitedly hoping for other allies such as Nightwing, Batgirl, Azrael, Catwoman, and more. As the release of the game neared, players were overjoyed to find out that all of these characters would be in the game.

However, when fans were finally able to play their copies of Batman: Arkham Knight, they encountered one of the game’s biggest letdowns: just not enough dual-play combat.

At first, Batman: Arkham Knight’s dual-play combat system seemed to be everything that fans were dreaming of. Switching between characters is simple and fluid. Batman’s allies come equipped with their own weapons, gadgets, and move sets. After a certain number of attacks, Batman can team up with his ally to perform a beautifully choreographed dual-play combat takedown.

In fact, there’s nothing wrong with the dual-play combat system itself. It’s actually awesome. The big letdown is the limited amount of time that Batman: Arkham Knight allows fans to play with an ally and actually experience this wonderful dual-play combat feature.

For the majority of the game, Batman is on his own. Collectively, between the side-quests and story content, there are only a few occasions where Batman runs into his allies and has the opportunity to engage the gamer in dual-play combat.

Firstly, while you can play as Azrael, there is no dual-play combat that involves him which is extremely disappointing, considering it seems so close to being possible. For Catwoman, you can only activate her dual-play for less than half of the Riddler missions. For Nightwing, there is one story mission that branches off into a side-quest line where you can use him. However you can only use him for part of those missions and you lose access to him once the quest-line is completed. For Robin, there is a story mission at Panessa studios that enables dual-play combat, but once again you lose access to him when the mission is over. And for Robin, there’s no side quest line with which to continue the dual-play combat fun.

It’s understandable that not every story mission and side-quest in Batman: Arkham Knight provides access to the dual-play combat system, especially considering the course of the narrative. However, the lost opportunity is that there is absolutely no access to the dual-play combat system in free roam mode.

In Batman: Arkham Knight, there are multiple occasions where you need to transport an individual and your Batmobile to another location and cannot continue forward with other parts of the game until that individual has been dropped off. This format could be ideal for a dual-play system in Batman: Arkham Knight’s free roam mode – picking up an ally, having some dual-action fun, and dropping them off before continuing with the narrative.

There are multiple side-quest lines that leave certain characters more or less walking around free after the quest line has been completed. Why not have some fun with these allies afterwards?

If Rocksteady is going to dangle a gem as beautiful as a dual-play combat system above our heads, players would love to see it implemented to its fullest potential. If we’re lucky, Rocksteady will find a way to allow even more access to the awesome dual-play combat system.

What do you think about Batman: Arkham Knight’s dual-play combat system? Were you satisfied with the little tease they included in the game? Or are you craving more? Pour your mind into our comments section and let us know your thoughts.